Friday, January 5, 2018

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jan 5): 2 persons beheaded in Basilan in clan war

Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits beheaded two persons in a remote area of Sumisip, Basilan on Thursday, according to the police on Friday. But a military report said the beheadings were part of a clan war or rido.

Senior Superintendent Nickson Muksan, Basilan police director, said the information on the beheading was provided by a military official.

The Inquirer tried but failed to get more details from the military as text and calls went unanswered.

Muksan said the supposed victims were beheaded in Sitio Bakahan in Barangay Mahatalang.

“A top military official in Basilan informed us that the male victim is a relative of the Abu Sayyaf,” Muksan said by phone.

In Manila, a report from the Philippine Army on Friday said two headless bodies were found after a clash between warring clans.

Gunshots were heard at Sitio Daingan in Barangay Mahatalang in Isabela City past 6 p.m. on Thursday, the report said.

“Around 6:30 p.m., information received from civilians stated that the beheaded Abdurahim Kituh, and the dead body of Abu Sayyaf member Naim, were also found near the crossing going to Ismael Elementary School,” the report said.

“The motive of the incident was rido,” it added.

Mahatalang was a known lair of the Abu Sayyaf in Sumisip and had been the target of recent military operations.

Late last year, the military also launched an operation there when Abu Sayyaf bandits torched two school buildings on December 20 and 22.

Muksan said one of the Abu Sayyaf sub-leaders hiding in Mahatalang had been identified as Radzmil Janatul.

All these activities require money; thus terrorist groups have turned to various sources of funding.

The financing of terrorism involves several activities, including storing of finances, masking funding sources and developing infrastructure that are institutional in nature to manage and transfer funds to terrorist organizations.

The Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernment body that set standards to promote the effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system, has highlighted a number of existing threats.

CITY CENTER Photo shows the Mapandi District, the business center of Marawi City. PHOTO BY DREI TOLEDO AND MIMI FABE
These include the use of multiple funding resources and banking availability, which make financing terrorist acts possible.

Terrorist financing can be broken down into two distinct types of activity. Type 1 terrorist financing refers to the early stage of gathering large proportions of funds, while Type 2 terrorist financing refers to the approach that uses the acquired funds to financially support a terrorist.

The Marawi siege falls under the Type 2 terrorist financing, with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) channelling huge amounts of funding to support local fighters.

Oil wells, fields

ISIS revenue comes primarily from the sale of illicit oil, from the deep pockets of a small number of major donors, and from a wide array of criminal enterprises.

In September 2014, US government placed ISIS’ daily income at about $3 million, and assets at between $1.3 and $2 billion.

It owned 350 oil wells in Iraq and 60 percent of Syria’s oil field. ISIS was believed to sell some 30,000 barrels a day in Iraq and 50,000 in Syria, at roughly $40 per barrel on the black market.

Kidnapping and other crimes

Terrorists engage in crimes such as kidnapping, robbery and extortion because these require force, but limited skills. Terrorists are continuing to diversify into illicit activity as a means to increase the dependability of financial flows.

For example, the Abu Sayyaf Group pocketed at least P353 million ($7.3 million) from ransom kidnappings in mid-2016, and have turned to abductions of foreign tugboat crewmen as military offensives restricted the militants’ mobility.

Of the estimated P353 million in ransom received by the Abu Sayyaf from January to June 2016, the bulk was paid in exchange for the releases of 14 Indonesian and 4 Malaysian crewmen who had been held at Abu Sayyaf jungle bases in Sulu province.

The militants got P20 million ($413,000) in ransom for freeing Marites Flor, a Filipino woman who was kidnapped in 2016 with two Canadians and a Norwegian from Samal Island.

Narco-politics

About P10 million worth of shabu was recovered in the house of former Marawi mayor Omar Solitario Ali, affirming the link between the crisis in the city and illegal drugs.

Security forces seized two kilos of shabu worth P10 million from a house of Ali while conducting clearing operations in battle-ravaged Marawi City on June 24, 2017. Authorities were convinced that the house was used by the Maute terrorists as a safe house.

Ali was one of the persons in the arrest order issued by the Defense department after President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao last May 23. He was also one of the politicians accused by Duterte of having ties with the illegal drugs trade.

Ali’s brother, Fajad Salic, also a former mayor of Marawi, was charged with rebellion for allegedly supporting the Maute terrorists that occupied Marawi City. President Duterte has repeatedly claimed that money from illegal drugs funded the terrorist activity in Mindanao.

Also according to President Duterte, Lanao del Sur narco-politicians operated the illegal drug trade in the entire Mindanao.

Anonymous mobile payments

Almost half of the world’s population use smartphones. Smartphones have internet connectivity, making half the world at risk of cybercrime. Almost three-fourths of the transaction money to and from bank accounts of smartphone users are processed through smartphones and related banking apps.

According to the International Data Corp., the Philippines is the fastest-growing market for smartphones in Southeast Asia.

Almost 30 percent of the growing Philippine population are using smartphones, and about 3.5 million smartphone units were sold in 2016. This segment is expected to double in 2018.

Given the lack of an existing financial services infrastructure in the Philippines, the acceptance rates for mobile payment and mobile banking solutions have been high. The use of mobile payments is also significantly affected by the security of the mobile payment process.

Payment processes where the user is anonymous rely less heavily on security and authentication than on the user’s account being tied to mobile payment counterparts. This anonymity makes the system vulnerable to exploitation by terrorist financing.

Local telecommunication companies should thus provide information on the location and potentially even the identity of a person using mobile payments to fund individuals linked to terrorism or terrorist groups.

Experts say the threat of mobile payment systems being used by terrorist groups within the Philippines is rooted in the absence of a national ID system. Currently, all telecom companies accept any one valid ID for registration purposes.

Regulatory structures set up by the National Telecommunications Commission and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas are also considered generally weak.

Philippine Marines are transported in two trucks during exercises in Jolo, August 2016.

The Philippine military says it will intensify its campaign against terrorist groups in the country’s southern region where more than 1,500 militants were killed in 2017, including fighters inspired by the Islamic State (IS) during a five-month battle in Marawi city.

Counted in the toll were 128 Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members killed last year, while another 144 surrendered to the government and 80 more were captured, regional army commander Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said Friday.Another 920 militants were killed in the battle by Philippine government forces to retake Marawi from IS-backed gunman who seized the southern city on May 23.

“With our intensified combat and law enforcement support operations, hundreds of weapons were recovered and seized as well,” Galvez said, adding this year troops “were under instructions to increase efforts to defeat more enemy combatants.”

ASG commander Isnilon Hapilon, the acknowledged leader of the IS faction in the region, and several militants from Southeast Asia and the Middle East were killed in the battle, which ended with the government retaking control of the city on Oct. 23. Founded in the 1990s, ASG has been blamed for the worst terrorist bombings in the country, as well as for kidnapping and beheading foreign and local hostages.

The military in the southern region also reported killing 182 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and capturing 24 while 37 surrendered.

BIFF is a breakaway of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), formerly the country’s largest rebel force until it signed a peace deal with government in 2014. The group, which claims hundreds of fighters, split from the 10,000-member MILF in 2008 and vowed to continue with the separatist fight by attracting younger, more hardline fighters.

Since signing the peace deal, the MILF has helped the military rout BIFF positions in central Mindanao.

“Significantly, the joint security operation and strategic alliance with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front contributed to the success in the operations,” Galvez said. “With the continuing campaign, we are sad to report that 26 of our soldiers were killed in action while fighting the Abu Sayyaf, and seven in the operations against the BIFF.”

Marawi aftermathMeanwhile, the military said it had cleared 30 percent of Marawi city’s main battle area of unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devises while rehabilitation efforts continue.

As of the end of the year, 2,853 unexploded ordnance and 415 improvised explosive devices had been recovered and defused, army chief engineer Maj. Gen. Arnold Rafael Depakakibo said.

He said more than 500 military engineers had been deployed to help in the recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation in Marawi.

“We continue our limited construction support to government agencies involved in the maintenance of evacuation centers,” Depakakibo said.

The fighting in Marawi began after troops and police moved to arrest Hapilon. A large force of rebel fighters, including a faction that came to be known as the Maute group, and which was backed by foreign fighters, pushed back.

The military has acknowledged that the rebels’ mastery of urban warfare helped them in the campaign, which saw some of the fiercest battles in modern warfare by Filipino forces.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared the city liberated from the militants on Oct. 23, days after Hapilon and other key militant leaders were killed.

Military 105 howitzer cannons, backed by helicopter gunships, pounded on positions of the Bangsamoro Islamic Liberation Front (BIFF) overnight at the boundaries of three towns in Maguindanao, which caused the swelling of evacuation to safer grounds of Teduray families in the area.

Capt. John Encinas, Army’s 6th Infantry Division, pointed to Mt. Firis as the site of battle, an ancestral land of the Teduray natives situated at the boundaries of Datu Unsay, Datu Hofer and Datu Saudi Ampatuan towns.

“The BIFF harassed our troops from the Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion in the area so we initiated artillery and airstrike maneuvers from 5 p.m. Thursday to 4 a.m. Friday in a bid to flush them out,” Encinas said.

Jobel Tenorio, an evacuee from Sitio Bagong, Datu Saudi town said over 100 BIFF militants occupied their community Friday, prompting them to leave behind their houses and personal belongings in no time.

“Gunfire could be heard overnight from three sides of Mt. Firis, so we decided to leave home,” Tenorio said in vernacular.

Since Dec. 25, intermittent gunbattles erupted between state forces and IS-linked BIFF terrorists in Mt. Firis, sending in trickles Teduray villagers to evacuation centers currently numbering close to 400 families.

Encinas said the BIFF torched houses at Teduray communities that they occupy in battling government forces at Mt. Firis, considered as a scared ground among the Tedurays.

“With this, our orders is there would be no let up on finishing off the BIFF terrorists in Mt. Firis,” Encinas stressed.

The provincial government of Maguindanao has attended to needs of the Teduray natives at designated evacuation centers in the affected towns.

Muslim students read the Quran at a Madrasah in East Java, Indonesia. Indonesia is offering to help the Philippines fight extremism with education. Source: Shutterstock

INDONESIA, the world’s largest Muslim country, has offered to help the Philippines fight violent extremism through Islamic education to avoid a repeat of the Marawi siege that displaced over 400,000 civilians last year.

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi pledged Jakarta’s assistance to Manila in the fight against Islamic extremism during an official visit this week in Davao City, the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Marsudi led the launching of the Islamic education cooperation program with the Philippines at Madrasa Al Munawwara, the first accredited Islamic school in the Philippines since 1996.

She said in a statement that Jakarta will grant 100 scholarships each year to students of Islamic schools in Mindanao to study in Indonesia as part of her country’s effort to fight Islamic extremism.

The scholarship includes international transport, tuition fee and living costs.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano welcomed Indonesia’s offer to share its best practices in Islamic education as part of efforts to address and prevent extremism, not just in the country but also across Southeast Asia.

“Indonesia is one of the models for the kind of Islamic education that the Philippines and Asean can look into to counter the rise of extremism,” Cayetano said.

“Our Indonesian friends do not want to see another Marawi happening and are offering to help us counter radicalisation through education,” he added.

Muslim-Filipino extremists, backed by foreign fighters from neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia, attacked Marawi City on May 23 to establish an Islamic state. The militants stood their ground against government forces in a five-month skirmish that left the city in shambles.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte poses for a picture with female soldiers during his visit at Bangolo town in Marawi city. Source: Reuters/File PhotoThe Marawi siege triggered Duterte to place all of Mindanao under martial law, which was extended until Dec 31 this year by Congress upon the request of the president who said threats from the extremists remain despite the end of the war in Marawi.

Cayetano said the Philippine government is looking forward to working not only with Indonesia but also with other like-minded Islamic countries in defeating the threat. He noted that Jakarta’s offer was among the initiatives taken up during the tripartite meetings against extremism held last year in Manila among the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

During her visit to Davao, Marsudi also paid a courtesy call on Duterte, during which the leaders agreed to elevate cooperation on trade, maritime security, education, and in eradicating terrorism.

Duterte told her he wanted to intensify maritime security in cooperation with Indonesia as foreign and local terrorists continue to enter and exit the country despite the military efforts to go after these elements.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. Source: AP.The president was referring to the sea backdoor between Indonesia’s Sulawesi provinces and Sarangani town in Davao Occidental.

The Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) earlier said some of the 20 Indonesian militants who fought alongside the Maute Group in Marawi may have slipped through the Sulawesi Sea (called Celebes Sea in the Philippines) in going to Mindanao.

“It is likely that a few have found their way to Marawi,” IPAC said in a 29-page report issued last year.

In December 2015, IPAC cited that a boat hired by an Indonesian militant operative from General Santos City in Mindanao smuggled firearms to North Sulawesi, passing through the Celebes Sea.

General Santos City is about eight hours by sea from Sarangani town in Davao Occidental, the country’s border with Indonesia’s Sulawesi provinces.

“In three to four hours by pump boat, we can be at the nearest Indonesian territory,” Cesar Hadir, an Indonesian descendant married to a Filipina on Sarangani town, told Asian Correspondent.

Hadir said the Indonesians who have settled on the island-municipality of Sarangani are simple farmers and fishermen.

Posted to the pro-Communist Party of the Philippines/National Democratic Front online propaganda publication Bulatlat (Jan 5): The fast changing images of President Duterte in effigies

Members of the Ugat Lahi artists’ collective works on the “Rody Cube” featuring President Rodrigo Duterte in one of the sides, former strongman Marcos on another side. (Photo by M. Salamat / Bulatlat)

“One year and a half, hundreds of broken promises and fourteen thousand drug-related deaths since Duterte took oath, the biggest surprise is that we’re no longer surprised with what’s going on.”

In his first year in Malacañang in 2016 President Rodrigo Duterte did not get caricatured in an effigy. Instead, it was an effigy of the former strongman Ferdinand Marcos that was burned following the hasty and stealthy burial of his remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in late 2016.

But by the second half of 2017, after President Duterte marked his first year in power, progressive groups critical of the impact on the people of his unfolding policies restarted creating and parading effigies of the president. By September, with President Duterte’s perceived drift toward tyrannical rule, the progressives started burning his effigy.

In burning the effigy, members of organizations responsible for it are demonstrating their rejection of the traits caricatured in the effigy.

By second half of 2017, President Duterte’s wars against the people delivered through his drugs war, counter-revolutionary war, anti-Moro and anti-indigenous peoples’ war, his continuation of neoliberal policies so abhorred by the poor for making them poorer, have driven even his supposed allies into increased resistance to his policies.

Progressive organizations in the Philippines led by the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan yearly creates an effigy of the president during his or her State of the Nation Address (SONA), caricaturing the president based on the impact on the ordinary people of his policies. In 2017, at the protests during Duterte’s second SONA, two effigies rolled with protesters on Commonwealth Avenue and down to Batasan Avenue. One effigy resembled both Duterte and Marcos – but it reflected the patience of the progressives in still giving President Duterte the chance to adopt policies toward achieving the people’s agenda. (In his first year, in lieu of the traditional blistering caricature, the SONA presented murals depicting the peoples agenda that included land reform, national industrialization, independent foreign policy, nationalist, scientific, free education, housing, among others.)

The other Duterte effigy in his second SONA, a Duterte ala Hitler effigy, called attention to his drift to militarism and dictatorial rule. Before his second SONA, President Duterte had imposed and extended martial law over Mindanao.

(Photo by Renato Reyes Jr)

By September, with the persistent absence of development in land reform while plantations were expanding and old haciendero families were using state forces to crush the people’s organized land reform projects; with his failure to deliver on promises to end contractualization; inaction on his strong pronouncements for independent foreign policy and the review of Visiting Forces Agreement with the US government; stalled peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines; continuing demolition of urban poor communities; thousands of summary killings, militarization of civilian communities and buildings, President Duterte’s effigies increasingly became blistering caricatures of his decisions.

President Duterte is depicted as an armed to the teeth ‘tuta ng Kano’ (US lapdog) with forked tongue in reference to his unfulfilled promises to the people. (Photo by M. Salamat / Bulatlat)

In 2017, Duterte’s effigies depicted him in comparison with ousted dictator Marcos. He was seen in people’s rallies being rolled out and burned as a “US-Duterte Bomb,” as the Night King (inspired by a character from the Games of Thrones TV series); as a face in “Rody Cube” interchangeable with Marcos, Hitler and a puppet; as “Doots in Boots,” as a heavily armored dog of war being driven by US President Trump, as a missile being directed by US President Trump; and by yearend, as Duterterorista, a devil hiding inside a mask of a populist politician.

(Photo by Marya Salamat/Bulatlat)

So soon into his term, President Duterte ended 2017 with re-extension of martial law in Mindanao and the approval in Congress of his administration’s tax reform package that would increase prices in 2018 and beyond. By this time, as a journalist covering Mindanao reported in Bulatlat: “One year and a half, hundreds of broken promises and fourteen thousand drug-related deaths since Duterte took oath, the biggest surprise is that we’re no longer surprised with what’s going on.’

RED ALERT – An armored personnel carrier (APC) is stationed along the highway in Aleosan, North Cotabato as the armed forces remain on red alert to thwart the attacks of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) who are operating in the boundary of the provinces of North Cotabato and Maguindanao. (Keith Bacongco)

Cotabato City — Nineteen houses of Teduray tribesmen were torched by combatants of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in a rampage in Maguindanao purportedly meant to avenge their heavy losses in an ongoing military operation.

At least 285 Teduray families fled their homes after the BIFF combatants led by Daesh-inspired Esmael Abdulmalik killed a Teduray farmer and torched 19 houses in a rampage prompted purportedly by the death of four comrades and five others in military airstrikes in Datu Hofer, Datu Saudi, Shariff Aguak and South Upi towns.

Bulletin sources said BIFF combatants bannering the Daesh black flag first razed to the ground three houses on Dec. 26 and 16 more houses on Dec. 29 in Teduray villages of Datu Hofer town in Maguindanao.

The first arson attack happened in barangay Lipongo while the second attack was staged in a village near Mount Firis, known as an ancestral hallowed ground or sacred site for Teduray hill tribe people, sources said.

All 19 houses were gutted as they were all made of light materials, investigators said.

Estandarte said she got the identities of the home owners during their attempt last Wednesday to conduct a relief and medical mission.

Abdulmalik’s group also reportedly sustained fatalities and scores were wounded in an earlier military airstrike in Carmen, North Cotabato.

The military said five soldiers were wounded in a ground battle with BIFF rebels ensuing from the airstrike in Carmen.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division said it would pursue “no letup” operations against the BIFF, alerting though civilians in affected areas to watch out for possible retaliatory attacks by the Islamic State-espousing combatants.

Estandarte said that several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had been planted in Datu Hofer town.

Last Sunday, one police element of adjacent Shariff Aguak town was killed and five other cops were wounded when their patrol car was hit by an IED explosion planted on a road leading to a secluded village being infiltrated by BIFF bandits.

Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Rolando Joselito D. Bautista (left) installs new Army Chief of Staff, Brig. Gen. Danilo Chad D. Isleta (middle) in a change of command ceremony on Thursday at the Army headquarters. Isleta replaced Maj. Gen. Gilbert I. Gapay (right) who is now the Commander of the Mechanized Infantry Division. (Philippine Army)

A reshuffle in the military leadership is underway as top generals have been promoted, following the retirement of high-ranking officers that triggered the continuing movements.

Maj. Gen. Rene Glen Paje, commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment, replaced Maj. Gen. Melquiades Feliciano as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deputy chief of staff for civil military operations.

A change of command ceremony was held last Wednesday, a few weeks after Feliciano retired from service.

Col. William Gonzales, the deputy chief for education and training of the Philippine Army (PA), is set to replace Paje as regiment commander of the Scout Rangers.Lt. Gen. Danilo Pamonag took the helm of the Southern Luzon Command (Socom) in mid-December. He was previously the commander of the Special Operations Command, and was in charge of the elite forces on the ground during the Marawi City siege.

The replacement of Pamonag as Socom commander has yet to be named.

Meanwhile, the PA also announced the appointment of its new chief of staff.

Brig. Gen. Danilo Chad Isleta replaced Maj. Gen. Gilbert Gapay during a change of command ceremony on Thursday at the PA headquarters in Taguig City.Gapay has been assigned as the commander of the Mechanized Infantry Division, the unit responsible for ground warfare.The Joint Task Force-National Capital Region’s new commander is Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, who was known for his stint as the island commander of Sulu. He replaced Maj. Gen. Jesus Mananquil, who was designated as the new commander of the PA’s 9th Infantry Division in the Bicol region.

Isleta is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1985, and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration.

Prior to his appointment, he was the deputy commander and acting commanding general of the Bicol-based 9th Infantry Division, and head of the Office of Gender and Development of the said unit.

Isleta also served as the commanding officer of the 10th Field Artillery Battalion, Army Artillery Regiment in 2006.

Meanwhile, Gapay is a member of PMA Class of 1986, who served as deputy commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command and head of Joint Task Force Harribon that secured Davao City and the rest of Davao Region, and spokesperson for the Martial Law implementation in Mindanao.

Metro Manila police chief Director Oscar Albayalde says Special Action Force troopers will join the thousands of cops who will be deployed to secure the procession

PANORAMA. Drones and snipers give cops a wider view of the procession of the Black Nazarene. Rappler file photo

To ensure the safety of devotees during Traslacion 2018, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) will deploy drones and snipers to monitor the procession during the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Tuesday, January 9.

"This year, we will be deploying drones in all high-rise buildings and in all the segments of the procession," NCRPO chief Director Oscar Albayalde said in a press conference on Friday, January 5.

Albayalde said the surveillance gadgets will be complemented by snipers pulled in from the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP SAF). (LOOK: Procession route for Nazareno 2018)

They are part of the 5,613 cops to be deployed on Tuesday to secure the almost 6-kilometer procession from the Quirino Grandstand to the Quiapo Church.

"They will act as observers. They have telescopes, the team from the SAF. They are complete. They are experts from the SAF and will all be deployed to buildings where the image will pass by," Albayalde added.

The NCRPO chief said the SAF troopers will prevent security breaches and will provide immediate response in the event of a terror attack.

Albayalde assured the public that PNP intelligence officers have begun monitoring threats of any attack on the big day. The police have not detected any such threats so far.

"So far, we have not obtained any information, although we have said that we cannot relax. Our intelligence operatives are continuously monitoring threat groups even outside Metro Manila who can operate here while this Traslacion will be ongoing," Albayalde said.

Authorities projected that up to 8 million devotees will join the annual procession of the Black Nazarene, a 17th-century dark-skinned image of Jesus Christ that Filipinos believe to grant prayers when touched.

From the Mindanao Times (Jan 5): Ground commanders ordered: Protect communities from NPA

THE EASTERN Mindanao Command has directed all its units to launch proactive measures to protect communities from New People’s Army harassment after the suspension of military operations was lifted on Jan. 2.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has declared a unilateral ceasefire that took effect at 6 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2017, until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2017, and resumed at 6 p.m. on Dec. 30, 2017 until 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2018.

Maj. Ezra Balagtey, spokesperson of EastMinCom, said that while the government is implementing the Somo, the NPAs attempted to abduct CAA Arbilito A. Catampao at Sitio Madian, Barangay Tubaon, Tarragona, Davao Oriental on Dec. 25.

On a separate occasion, a Cafgu patrol base in Barangay Melale, Laak, Compostela Valley was also attacked by undetermined number of NPAs during the ceasefire.

On Dec. 23, 2017, around 11 p.m., NPAs ransacked houses and took over the whole Purok of Sitio Mabugnao, Barangay Las Arenas of Pantukan, which prompted the 66th IB to respond.

Also on Jan. 2, 2018 at 2:20 p.m. and 6:40 p.m., NPAs attacked two units of the Philippine Army stationed in Barangay Panansalan, Compostela town and Barangay Cabuyan, Mabini, both in Compostela Valley, prior to the termination of Somo.

In the directive, Madrigal told the troops to “continue protecting vulnerable communities from armed threats and deception of the NPA as they intend to conduct more terroristic acts as pronounced during their anniversary.”

He likewise ensured the public of the sustained conduct of community support program in the different far-flung communities in Eastern Mindanao.

“Our efforts on assisting other line government agencies in facilitating the delivery of government services in the geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas must also continue and be pursued,” Madrigal emphasized.

The Philippine Army has lauded the local community for reporting sightings of communist rebels in Leyte that led to a clash Thursday resulting in the killing of two suspected NPA members and recovery of firearms.

Brig. Gen. Francisco Mendoza, Jr., commander of the Philippine Army’s 802nd Brigade, said on Friday the NPA extortion and recruitment activities were foiled as people share valuable information to government troops.

“Our soldiers patrolled the area because we got reports from the community that a group of armed men have been conducting meetings in upland areas of Baybay City,” Mendoza told Philippine News Agency (PNA).

On Thursday morning, two rebels were killed in an hour-long gun battle between soldiers and 20 NPAs at the forested area of Hilapnitan village in Baybay.

As the rebels fled, an M-16 and M-653 rifles were recovered by the military at the encounter site, which can be reached through two hours of hiking from the national road.

The two casualties are still unidentified since authorities did not find any documents showing their identities. No one was hurt from the government side.

“The government soldiers continue doing the mandate of ensuring the safety of the people and properties against any threats. We are glad the people abhor these left-leaning groups and instead they report to the authorities once they notice the rebels’ presence in their communities,” said Army 78th Infantry Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Danilo Dupiag.

Dupiag confirmed the recruitment activities in Leyte by NPA remnants as part of a massive effort to regain their former strongholds.

On Dec. 8, 2011, the government declared Leyte as manageable conflict-affected and development ready province.

The declaration implies that the internal peace and security operations in Leyte have worked and its responsibility is handed over to the local government with the military supporting peace and order efforts in the province.

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 5): Indonesia to open scholarships on Islamic education for Mindanaoans

The government of the Republic of Indonesia is opening a scholarship program to 100 Mindanaoans who will study Islam in Indonesia.

Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Renton Mudsari, who led the launch of the Islamic Education Cooperation of Indonesia and the Philippines in Davao City Thursday at the Al-Munawara Islamic School in Ma-a, this city, said her government is ready to cover the annual scholarship for Madrasah students.

However, she said the technical scheme of the program will be fine-tuned by education officials from both Indonesia, through its Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the Philippines.

She noted the partnership between the Philippines and Indonesia had been established for decades and it is the Indonesian government’s desire to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries through education.

"Our two Presidents, President Rodrigo Duterte and President Joko Widodo, had discussed on strengthening education and cooperation," she said.

"And it is Indonesia's strong commitment to work with the government of the Philippines on this," she said.

"This will be part of the education cooperation between two countries and we will work with all stakeholders to enhance cooperation in areas of education particularly on Islamic education," she added.

Madsuri stressed that Indonesia, being the focal point for Islamic education development, will not only involve government through the Ministry of Religious Education but also civil society and the Islamic organization.

Madsuri said the two governments will work closely on projects that include curriculum development and exchange programs for Ulamas, principals, teachers, and students.

In particular, she said, “We want to provide students of Islamic schools full knowledge on Islam so that in the near future Islamic education will flourish here.

The province of Pangasinan will observe the 73rd anniversary of the Lingayen Gulf Landing on January 9.

Orpheus Velasco, provincial information officer, said the observance will coincide with the 11th Pangasinan Veterans’ Day commemoration at the Veterans Memorial Park in Lingayen.

The twin events are expected to be participated in by a few remaining veterans of World War II from Pangasinan who helped clear the province’s beaches 73 years ago to pave the way for the safe landing of Allied troops led by General Douglas MacArthur.

The landing at dawn of January 9, 1945 led to the liberation of the whole of Luzon from the Japanese forces.

As an opening salvo on Tuesday, a thanksgiving mass will be celebrated by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Most Rev. Socrates Villegas, D.D. at 7:00 a.m.

Velasco said after the wreath-laying ceremony, program proper starts at 8:30 a.m.

Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim Jr. will deliver the welcome address while Gov. Amado Espino III will deliver a message and testimonial to the veterans as well as introduce the guest of honor and speaker, Pangasinan Second District Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil.

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 5): Año named new DILG OIC, Cuy to head DDB

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has formally appointed former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Eduardo Año as the new officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

During the retirement of Año in October last year, the President announced the forthcoming appointment of the former AFP chief of staff as head of the DILG.

However, Año would still remain as undersecretary and OIC at the DILG for a period of one year after his retirement from military service.

The appointment paper of Año was signed by President Duterte on Jan. 4, 2018.

Isleta is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1985, and holds a Master's degree in Public Administration.

Prior to his appointment, he was the deputy commander and acting commanding general of the Bicol-based 9th Infantry Division, and head of the Office of Gender and Development of the said unit.

Isleta also served as the commanding officer of the 10th Field Artillery Battalion, Army Artillery Regiment in 2006.

Meanwhile, Gapay is a member of PMA Class of 1986, who served as deputy commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command and head of Joint Task Force Harribon that secured Davao City and the rest of Davao Region, and spokesperson for the Martial Law implementation in Mindanao.

THE Philippines and Indonesia have vowed to mount joint efforts to combat terrorism and propagate moderate Islamic values in Southeast Asia through the educational system.

The agreement was reached during the meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi at the Presidential Guest House in Davao City Wednesday night.

“Both President Duterte and the Indonesian Foreign Minister agreed to elevate cooperation on trade, maritime security, education, and in eradicating terrorism. While the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Marawi are in full swing, President Duterte said that he wants to intensify maritime security in cooperation with Indonesia as foreign and local terrorists continue to enter and exit the country despite the military efforts to go after these elements,” the Palace said.

The Palace said Marsudi specifically wanted to give 300 passports to Indonesians living in Mindanao.

President Duterte expressed anew his interest on the resumption of transport routes between the Philippines and Indonesia to further strengthen trade between the two countries.

The Philippines continues to run after terrorists, with President Duterte getting a one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao from Congress.

In a separate statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Indonesia was one of the models for Islamic education that the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations could employ to counter the rise of extremism.

“Our Indonesian friends do not want to see another Marawi happening and are offering to help us counter radicalization through education,” Cayetano said.